Kintsugi Heroes
Amira McCue
A woman who learned at eight to survive loss by disconnecting from people spent decades discovering that isolation was the real wound.
You don't have to be in crisis to call.
Amira McCue was five years old when police came to her door to tell her family that her favourite uncle, aged nineteen, had taken his life. He was not the last. Over the next few years, her family experienced a cascade of losses: an uncle who drowned, an aunt who overdosed while Amira's four-year-old cousin was in the house, another aunt who refused treatment. By the time Amira was eight, she made a choice that would shape decades of her life. She decided to stop feeling. Emotion felt too dangerous, so she disconnected from people as a way to survive.
At twenty, Amira had a daughter who developed cerebral palsy. Suddenly, survival was not enough. Her daughter needed her to fight. That need pulled Amira out of the emotional shutdown she had chosen at eight, because there was no way to care for someone else while protecting herself from connection. When her husband and her niece were both later diagnosed with the same mental health condition, Amira chose to educate herself through courses rather than see it as proof her family was broken. She learned strategies to support them, and in doing so, she discovered things about herself she had not known.
For years, Amira held everything together. Then one day at work, her body simply stopped. Her hands shook, her whole body shook, and she could not go back. It took a cruise invitation from her father to make her realise she could not support other people if she was too exhausted to live her own life. Amira now measures recovery differently. One bad day does not mean the next one will be bad. Her message to anyone listening is simple: it was never meant to be solo. The resources exist now. Let people in.
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses grief & loss, which some listeners may find distressing.
If you need support, you're not alone. Help is available: • Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au • GriefLine: 1300 845 745 · griefline.org.au
Every story here belongs to the person who lived it. They said yes to sharing it, and we sat with it carefully before it went up. Nothing here is exaggerated and nothing is used without permission. Read how we handle these stories ↗
Kintsugi Heroes · Registered Australian not-for-profit · kintsugiheroes.com.au ↗